Africa Institute on Peace and Justice Studies Program Development

Entebbe, Uganda
November 7-9, 2017

The Africa Institute for Peace and Justice Studies Program Development in the Catholic Social Tradition was hosted by Uganda Martyrs University, and co-sponsored by the Association of Catholic Universities and Higher Institutes of Africa and Madagascar (ACUHIAM), the Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations, the Catholic University of Eastern Africa's Centre for Social Justice and Ethics, CPN, the University of Notre Dame's Kroc institute for International Peace Studies, Catholic Relief Services, the International Federation of Catholic Universities, the Institut für Theologie und Frieden, Misereor, Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, and the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. It included 64 people from 16 countries, including Europe, North America and nations across Africa, representing 18 institutionsengaged in academic programming for peace and justice studies.

The Institute was a concrete follow up to the Proposal for Research in Education for Peace, which was approved in Johannesburg in 2014 by the General Assembly of ACUHIAM, and which was aimed at strengthening peacebuilding capacity in Africa and institutionalizing education, training, and research in peace studies. And this ACUHIAM proposal followed from a strategic plan for peacebuilding and reconciliation developed at the Conference of the Catholic Episcopate of the Great Lakes Region for Peace and Reconciliation, held in Burundi in 2010 with support from CPN.

In service to these resolutions, the Institute had four main goals:

to review and strengthen existing peace studies programs by sharing best practices and exploring the relationship between peace studies and Catholic social teaching;

to contribute to mainstreaming peace studies within universities and integrating peace studies concepts across the curriculum;

to identify areas in which university and institute programs might collaborate; and

to explore how these academic programs can learn from and contribute to the peace and justice work of the wider Catholic community in Africa.

The Institute resulted in the formation of an Africa Peace Studies Working Group, which will work under the umbrella of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. This Working Group will provide a leadership structure to ensure follow up to the Institute. The Working Group will spearhead networking and collaboration initiatives, such as faculty exchanges and joint research projects, and coordinate efforts to share best practices and strategies for curriculum development, student recruitment, enhancing engagement with the wider Catholic Church and governmental bodies, and other common concerns.